I got a TPK on Thistletop. After many survival check failures, the barbarian finally got the party to Thistletop around 9pm. When they found the wall of briars, they immediately decided to burn the wall, despite my heavy warnings.

A goblin came out of the tunnel to investigate, spotted the party, then retreated back to raise the alert level before the party could kill him. The party chased in after him and ended up fighting waves of goblins and goblin dogs plus the druid in the small tunnels. Using waves helped the party survive longer, but they still eventually succumbed.

I fleshed out the boar hunting w/ aldern, using a Lamashtu corrupted dire boar (give them more of a hint that something is VERY wrong around town)...the boar impaled two of aldern's hunting partners/retainers, but none of the party...

Was a good opportunity to convey what a jerk aldern is-he was more concerned with his precious horses than the men...

Getting ready to head to Thistletop but so far they have totally devastated my monsters. I think one character was down to only 3hp or so but that's as close as they've come so far. I've even been upping the HP on the mobs. Sheesh!

For those of you that have already posted, how many PCs do you have in your parties, and what classes are they? I'd like to try and get a measure of what type of group would be best for a balance of extremely challenging, but only slightly deadly.

We have 5
Fighter 1-going to prestige to outlaw of the crimson road
Paladin 1-going to prestige to order of the grey guard
Wizard 1-going to prestige class to blood magus
Cleric of ???? 1-(part of her backstory, doesn't know who her god is)
Ranger 1-going to prestige to Swanmay

Five players in my game, most of them new to D&D but not rpgs in general. After two games we just finished the glassworks. So far no deaths but the elf rogue has been dropped to negatives three times. He's decided to multiclass into ranger.

Name of PC: Alexandr
Class/Level: Warlock 2
Adventure: Burnt Offerings
Catalyst: Chased down 2 goblins fleeing to meet up with Tsuto in the Glassworks.
Story: The rest of the Party didn't come with him, since they figured he wouldn't chase the goblins past the next room or so. The goblins ran all the way to Tsuto's room in the basement. Alone, wounded, and without the rest of the party in hearing range, he decided to go mano-a-mano against Tsuto. Needless to say, it didn't work out.

Name of PC: Cristoff
Class/Level: Fighter 3
Adventure: Burnt Offerings
Catalyst: A hungry barghest
Story: The heroes of Sandpoint battled there way through Thistletop, defeating the goblins and Nualia's cronies. They came upon the hidden section of the dungeon that lead to Malfeshnekor's prison. Unwary, the group entered that foul sanctum. That's when the clever barghest, concealed by invisibility, launched his attack. The party fought valiantly but was badly thrashed by the fiend. Cristoff fell defending the others. When they tried to retreat and regroup, they made the mistake of leaving Cristoff's fallen body behind.

Name of PC: Mite Spell-Loyal
Class/Level: Fighter 3
Adventure: Burnt Offerings (Caverns of Wrath)
Catalyst: Lesser Runewell of Wrath
Story: One of his fellow party members decided to collect some of the yellow liquid inside the pool of Erylium's sanctum in a vial. Without gloves, this elven ranger rolled a Reflex Save to see if she could do this without touching any of the liquid. And promptly failed, causing her to attack the nearest party member, Mite Spell-Loyal, dwarven fighter. As the party members tried to subdue her after the initial surprise attack, with three coming close, but ultimately unable to stop her raging madness. Two more rounds of combat quickly saw Mite knocked down to -10 with a single blow that deal 14 damage. The Elf was then quickly subdued by the human barbarian.

Niccolo Sarkolberti was second cousin to the Scarnetti family, an infamous crank-about-town known for being a racist bastard and widely suspected of being an arsonist. He's probably where all the rumors about the Scarnettis burning down either their own or their competitor's mills came from.

When the goblins attacked Sandpoint, his strategy seemed to be for the most part firing his crossbow while hiding behind Varisians and children, but he finally showed some valor by pummeling unsuspecting goblin thugs... and getting charged by the mounted goblin commando. Who rolled a crit. And maximum damage. Killing him in one swift blow.

He is survived by Sulik Sky-eyes, his lover who was kept secret for being both Shoanti and a man. He will not be missed by the majority of Sandpoint's citizens.

Since not one of my PCs can wilderness-navigate themselves out of a wet paper bag, they decided to call in Shalelu to help them get to Thistletop when the time came to start their assault. I had originally planned to NPC Shalelu, but a friend had a free evening, so I added a gestalt element to her (so she'd be on the same scale as the rest of the party) and sent them off to deal with Ripnugget and Nualia. Unfortunately, when the party reached Ripnugget's throne room, the mighty chief had no difficulty mounting up on Stickfoot and charging at them.

Spirited Charge + critical hit = dead Shalelu. Thanks to high rolls, I did 23 hp to her in one shot, enough to drop her straight to -11.

'Course, since she's due to reappear in Hook Mountain Massacre, I'm gonna have to do some thinking once I get #3 in my hands...

It is with great sorrow that I am forced to announce the loss of the first party PC for Kung Fu Gamers(our gaming group in Virginia Beach, VA).

Kadrian Rell, faithful and just Paladin of Iomedae fell in valiant battle against the tainted aasimar cleric Nualia. While striving to defend his fellow adventurers from the obvious threat that Nualia posed, both to the party, and to the citizenry of Sandpoint, Kadrian lost his life when the serrated blade of the cleric's mighty bastard sword tore through his throat, killing him instantly. However, his death was not entirely in vain. Driven to action by the loss of their beloved comrade, the party slew Nualia, ending her threat forevermore(?).

Name: Vaelastraz
Class: Human cleric 3
Adventure: Burnt Offerings
Catalyst: Nobody making a Will save with a DC of 11

The party entered the chapel to Lamashtu inside Thistletop, wary for lurking danger. They spotted the two yeth hounds in the shadows by the ceiling, but before they could act, both hounds began to bay. All four of the party members succumbed to the mind-numbing panic and fled in multiple directions, heedless of any danger they might encounter. Unfortunately, Vael the cleric was the slowest of the bunch. The hounds descended upon the man, dragging him to the ground and savaging him. By the time the others recovered from their terror and returned to defeat the hounds, it was too late to save the cleric.

Which reinforces the old saying: "I don't have to outrun the monsters, I just have to outrun the slowest PC!"

It all started years ago with 5 PC deaths to the Rope Bridge in Forge of Fury followed about a year later by a few more deaths to a Rope Bridge in some other module. Half the deaths were Brad's characters, so when the party reached the Rope Bridge to Thistletop, he was understandably "hesitant" to cross.

After much discussion, the party decides to cross the bridge one at a time and sends the rogue across the Rope Bridge to scout. Tobias crosses then spots the goblins playing Killgull and motions for the others to follow. The half-orc barbarian crossed next and hid with the rogue to watch the game. Brad's sorceress crosses next and gets 40ft across when a goblin spots the barbarian and raises the alarm.

After initiative is rolled, the barbarian and rogue ready to defend the bridge as the goblins mount up. The dwarf cleric double moves onto the bridge followed immediately by the dwarf fighter, setting off the trap. Both dwarves make their Indiana Jones reflex saves, but the sorceress ends up in the water with enough non-lethal damage to be knocked unconscious. The barbarian decides to dive into the water to save the sorceress (successful) leaving the poor rogue all alone to fight the goblins and goblin dogs. After a quick calculation of odds, Tobias dives in after the barbarian and proceeds to roll 5+ on each d6 for a nice quick death.

Last weekend, my tabletop game had a near-TPK against Xanesha in "The Skinsaw Murders." I haven't got a chance to type up the report though because I'm missing some of the characters' names (two of the players were new for that session). But you can put down three deaths for that adventure if it makes you feel better. :D

Last weekend, my tabletop game had a near-TPK against Xanesha in "The Skinsaw Murders." I haven't got a chance to type up the report though because I'm missing some of the characters' names (two of the players were new for that session). But you can put down three deaths for that adventure if it makes you feel better. :D

I just got mine a week ago, and with planning my NaNoWriMo, I havn't even cracked the book yet, that being said, I am always happy to know what the deadliest parts are, Burnt Offerings didn't seem to have an insect of death like the first adventure of the last 2 adventure paths (well AOW it was a swarm, and the deathbug in STAP IS the size of a small horse....) and the deaths seem more spread out, which is good.

Last weekend, my tabletop game had a near-TPK against Xanesha in "The Skinsaw Murders." I haven't got a chance to type up the report though because I'm missing some of the characters' names (two of the players were new for that session). But you can put down three deaths for that adventure if it makes you feel better. :D

I gotta admit, that fight scares the crap out of me. My players aren't exactly tactically oriented, and I'm thinking there's gonna be some issues when they try to take her on...

Tonight my game lost two more party members with one player losing his second character inside a month.

Name of PC: Tybalt of Magnimar
Class/Level: Fighter L2

Name of PC: Mizu of the Fierce Fist
Class/Level: Monk L2

Adventure: Burnt Offerings
Catalyst: Death by Yeth!
Story: Not much of a story. These two mercenaries were added to the party after the demise of Mite Spell-Loyal (see above.) Both were doing well enough, but the Yeth Hounds were just too much for this party of six adventurers. At the cost of their two newest companions, the rest of the party managed to escape Death by Yeth!

What really caused these deaths were poor rolls and only 2 PCs with silver weapons. Now I'm going to have to figure out what to do as I think it's likely that the Party will decide to return to Sandpoint for help. I've already decided to turn these two corpses into Cauldron-Born ala the Dragon Article, using the altar as an alternative Black Cauldron.

Name of PC: Loki
Class/Level: Thactotem (Sp?) Basically a Red Mage
Adventure: Skinsaw Murders
Catalyst: His Lordship
Story: Was coup de grâce'd by His Lordship after being paralyzed, as he was the one who His Lordship had a wrathful obsession with.

I gotta admit, that fight scares the crap out of me. My players aren't exactly tactically oriented, and I'm thinking there's gonna be some issues when they try to take her on...

The "when she drops to 60 HP, she flies" part terrifies me - I have a GRAPPLER, a barbarian with a bastard sword, a gnome with a small crossbow, and an elf with a long bow. I'm pretty sure she can dish out more ranged damage a round than they can...

I gotta admit, that fight scares the crap out of me. My players aren't exactly tactically oriented, and I'm thinking there's gonna be some issues when they try to take her on...

The "when she drops to 60 HP, she flies" part terrifies me - I have a GRAPPLER, a barbarian with a bastard sword, a gnome with a small crossbow, and an elf with a long bow. I'm pretty sure she can dish out more ranged damage a round than they can...

My players did great in the Misgivings. We had the lights down low, dark ambient music playing, it was an awesome setting, and even though everyone was sufficiently creeped out, they made their way up to the attic. They managed to piece together much of the family history from the hauntings, but when they stumbled across Iesha's revenant, they didn't know what to make of her. The paladin detected her as evil, and after they moved the mirror she got up screaming about Aldern, etc. Well, I have no idea what possessed my wife to have her character step in front of Iesha (possibly it was hidden guilt over the accidental slaying of one of the innocent normal humans tied up as scarecrows out by the Hambly farm or some other motive to not let evil get away, I don't know), but she did.

I had Iesha lead off with a shriek, having her shout out something about "I'm coming for you Aldern!" or something like that. I dropped several hints as to her real motive. Several of the party basically said that they should just get out of her way, the revenant was only attacking the two who had gotten in front of her, Lennai and Daivon, our other ranger. However, as they all kept whacking at her, Iesha finally managed to score hits with both claws after I randomly determined which one she was attacking (bad luck on my wife's part) and not only did she hit with her claws, she instantly began the improved grab and constricted Lennai, snapping her neck.

Needless to say the first thought through my head was "Well, I'm sleeping on the couch tonight..."

The "when she drops to 60 HP, she flies" part terrifies me - I have a GRAPPLER, a barbarian with a bastard sword, a gnome with a small crossbow, and an elf with a long bow. I'm pretty sure she can dish out more ranged damage a round than they can...

Can anybody cast fly...?

There are NO arcane casters in the group YET - Monk, Barbarian, Cleric, and Rogue. I'm HOPING by the time they get to the end of PF #2 (we just started #1 last week) someone will have multiclassed, or picked up some wands. But my players are stubborn and contrarian, so I'm worrying now.

Boy, when you're dead, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a g++~+~ cemetery. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody. ~J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

1st adventure (Burnt Offerings): 14

2nd adventure (Skinsaw Murders): 4

still seems to be a rather slow death trail... but then again with all the side plots offered many groups arn't ou of the first adventure yet - hopefully it picks up....

Name of PC: Shannon
Class/Level: 1st lvl Varisian Bellydancer (rogue)
Adventure: Burnt Offerings
Catalyst: Entering the Catacombs of Wrath
Story: Scouting ahead as the party descended into the smuggler's tunnels, Shannon spied a dark cave to her right. Looking back toward the group, she mouthed "Could be monsters down here", just as the Sinspawn guarding the Catacombs leapt from the darkness. Vainly tried to beat it back with her torch, but died in the following round, her head crushed in its jaws like an eggshell (a very unfortunate, max damage critical).

Name of PC: Shannon
Class/Level: 2nd lvl Half-Orc Rogue/Sorceror
Adventure: Burnt Offerings
Catalyst: Elyrium
Story: Having been reincarnated by Father Zanthus as a half-orc, Shannon bravely returned to the catacombs with the group. Elyrium was encountered first, but was subjected to a "fear" spell that caused her to flee her chamber. She rallied her troops and returned with the mutated goblin hero, all of the zombies, and the varagoulle. Paralysed by the varagoulle's shreiking, poor Shannon was coup de grace'd by Elyrium. She was reincarnated the following morning as a goblin.

Name of PC: Wake
Class/Level: 2nd lvl Shoanti Fighter
Adventure: Burnt Offerings
Catalyst: Goblin Dogs
Story: The party were suffering badly from guerilla attacks carried out by the goblin druid outside Thistletop, but finally managed to get him on the run. He fled to where the goblin dogs were tethered, and started freeing them one-by-one. Wake stood his ground, but took an unfortunate critical hit and had his throat torn out, killing him instantly (later raised by Father Zanthus as a half-orc, which he finds quite agreeable)

I gotta admit, that fight scares the crap out of me. My players aren't exactly tactically oriented, and I'm thinking there's gonna be some issues when they try to take her on...

The "when she drops to 60 HP, she flies" part terrifies me - I have a GRAPPLER, a barbarian with a bastard sword, a gnome with a small crossbow, and an elf with a long bow. I'm pretty sure she can dish out more ranged damage a round than they can...

Can anybody cast fly...?

No, the question is; "Can anybody cast dispel magic?" Your caster has to beat DC17, but if they do she plummets 180ft for an average damage of 63.

Had our first fatalities (3 out of 5) this past session when the party (all humans) decided to attack Thistletop just after sunset (with no lights).

Name of PC: Vanni
Class/Level: Rogue 2
Adventure: Burnt Offerings
Story: Face smashed in by Bruthalmas' flail, picked up, and hurled into the sea 80' below. Later rescued from the sea just as the bunyip attacked.

Name of PC: Ferrick
Class/Level: Fighter 2
Adventure: Burnt Offerings
Story: Peed on goblin druid under the effects of a potion of tree shape, only to get his manhood and then face burned by said goblin druid and eaten by the druid's firepelt companion.

Name of PC: Zenovia
Class/Level: Beguiler 2
Adventure: Burnt Offerings
Story: Leapt upon by a pair of riderless goblin dogs during battle on the blockhouse's roof. All soft parts eaten -- naught left but drippy ribcage and legbones by the time the final two members of the party consumed the fort in flames.

Finally in Part Two of The Skinsaw Murders I scored my first kill of the campaign!

PC: Lel (CN male halfling rogue 3/sorcerer 2)
Adventure: The Skinsaw Murders (Foxglove Manor)
Catalyst: Iesha Foxglove
Story: Bregaron the dwarven ranger crushed the mirror freeing Iesha of her stasis. Everybody cowered in fear but the halfling Lel! He tumbled down the corridor to the stairs shooting orbs of sound on the undead lady. She wanted to go down to Aldern making way with her claws. Obviously very effective!

Adventure: Burnt offerings
Fatalities: Simeon(duskblade 4) and Merrokan(ninja3/ranger1)
Story: Third member of the group fell to the pit trap in Thisttletop. Nualia then attacked other two members and after a long fight killed them both with bastard sword. Third party member managed to escape from Thistletop.

PC: Kimiko (OA greensnake naga Sohei 5//Rogue 5 gestalt)
Adventure: Skinsaw Murders
Catalyst: The Scarecrow
Story: Crit with a full-power-attack +1 large scythe wielded by a golem for 129 damage. She had 48 hit points. The scythe was buried in her belly up to the haft and the force of the impact nailed her to one of the office walls, then through it and into a crumpled heap on the back wall. The remaining party members managed to snare the Scarecrow in a web long enough for the Swordsage to regain his maneuvers and finish it off with another barrage of ranged touch attacks.

It wasn't a true death because I use Action Points and allow the party as a whole to spend 3 APs to prevent a death, but it's the first time I've ever critted with a scythe, so I figured I'd share :Þ

Name of PC: Ysabeau Heimalis
Class/Level: Elf swashbuckler 4//sorcerer 4
Adventure: Burnt Offerings
Catalyst: Nualia
Story: After getting their butts stomped by the yeth hounds in the Cathedral, the PCs retired to Sandpoint to rest and reconsider their options. In response, Nualia moved the yeth hounds down a level to the Hellcat Hall. When the PCs returned, they successfully saved against the howls of the first two hounds, but when Nualia and the third hound arrived three rounds later, half the party failed their saves and fled. Ysabeau and Marigold, the rogue//hexblade, chose not to flee with them, but were quickly outnumbered and outgunned. Marigold was able to retreat to the Observation Room and activate the trap to keep Nualia out, but Ysabeau was not so fortunate.

Name of PC: Gowrin
Class/Level: Dwarf marshal 4//warmage 4
Adventure: Burnt Offerings
Catalyst: Malfeshnekor
Story: After the surviving members of the party regrouped and defeated Nualia and her hounds, they reclaimed Ysabeau's body and got it reincarnated by Madam Mvashti. (My players aren't tactical geniuses, nor are they overly familiar with D&D combat tricks overall, so I am inclined toward leniency where resurrection is concerned.) Now a dwarf, Yzzy (no longer Ysabeau) accompanied her companions back to Thistletop. They had an uneven encounter with the shadows, but then wandered basically blind into Malfeshnekor's lair. After one hit dropped Excetra, the barbarian//cleric, by half her hit points, most of the party decided to run - but not Gowrin. For whatever reason, he tried to stay to fight it out, and the inevitable rapidly occurred. Yzzy used expeditious retreat to grab the dwarf's body and escape with only one vicious slice, allowing him to be reincarnated as well (as a human, which was pure suck all the way around).

Let us know what you come up with Shisumo. I'm sure there have to be other people out here that are having similar problems too.

Well, the PCs forgot to grab Shalelu's body when they fled Thistletop the first time, so I think I'm going to have Lamashtu raise her as some kind of undead. Since Lamashtu is (roughly) aligned with Alaznist rather than Karzoug (thus far, anyway), I plan to have her be the reason why the party gets involved with Fort Rannick - Lamashtu will basically be interfering with Karzoug's plans by drawing the PCs in. (Shalelu will probably send a message to the PCs saying something like, "Turtleback Ferry is in a bit of a spot. Say hello to my father when you see him. - Shalelu") I may change my mind when if I see Sins of the Saviors before I get to the end of The Skinsaw Murders, but that's my plans for now.

Anyone got any suggestions for a suitable undead type to make Shalelu when she reappears?